French
Victory
: HSLDA Helps Defeat 'Draconian' Legislation “The freedom of
teaching is not threatened any more,” Le Collectif Pour la Liberté
d’Instruction, an association of French homeschool advocates, announced
on January 11, 2007. French homeschooling families won an important legal
battle for their rights when two amendments to limit homeschooling were
withdrawn from a bill in the French Parliament in early January.The
French official told Klicka that they “were blindsided
by the controversy brought to their attention by hundreds of phone calls
and emails, so we quickly contacted Paris."

A Christain girl has lost her High Court battle to be allowed to
wear a silver chastity ring at school.

Lydia Playfoot's pastor father faces a £20,000 legal bill after
a judge rejected her claim for equal rights with Muslim pupils allowed
to wear headscarves.

To Lydia, 16, the ring represented a symbol of her faith and her commitment
to remain a virgin until she marries.

But to the Millais
School in Horsham, West Sussex, it was simply jewellery and flouted
strict rules on pupil uniforms.

Lydia challenged the decision in the High Court, claiming it had breached
her human rights.

The school, which allows Muslim and Sikh students to wear headscarves
and religious bracelets, argued that the purity ring was not an integral
part of the Christian faith and contravened its uniform policy.

Deputy High Court Judge Michael Supperstone QC said the school was "fully
justified" in banning the ring, a symbol of the Silver
Ring Thing movement in the US.

He ruled that since Lydia's faith did not require her to wear one, she
could not properly argue she was "manifesting her belief" by doing so.

"The act of wearing a ring is not intimately linked to the belief in
chastity before marriage," he said.

He ordered that her father Phil pay the school's £12,000 costs
in addition to his daughter's legal bill. Lydia was refused legal aid -
unlike two Muslim girls who fought similar cases.

Lydia said she was "very disappointed" at the decision and added that
it would mean that, "slowly, over time, people such as school governors,
employers, political organisations and others will be allowed to stop Christians
from publicly expressing and practising their faith".

Her father added: "This does seem yet another example of how Christians
are being treated differently."

Lydia and her silver ring have become the latest symbols of the clash
between Christianity and what it regards as the creeping secularisation
of British society.

Her case was fought by barrister Paul Diamond, who successfully represented
BA worker Nadia Eweida in her battle to be allowed to wear a crucifix openly
at work.

She was backed by the Lawyers Christian Fellowship and her devout parents.

Phil and Heather Playfoot originally suggested to Lydia - one of their
four daughters - that she wear the ring. Mr Playfoot, 50, an evangelical
pastor at Kings Church in Horsham, and his 48-year-old wife are part of
the volunteer team which runs the UK branch of the Silver Ring Thing,
in Horsham.

It is an evangelical
American movement which encourages teenagers to make a "pledge
of chastity" - and charges them £10 for a silver ring bearing a Biblical
inscription.

In his ruling, the judge praised the principle of school uniforms saying
it fostered allegiance, discipline, equality and cohesion. He said they
helped children to avoid the social pressures that develop around clothing
and jewellery.

He said Lydia and her parents had signed up to the uniform code and
noted there were other ways Lydia could have expressed her belief, such
as with keychains, badges or stickers - all of which were acceptable to
the school.

Headmaster Leon Nettley has questioned whether his school was being
used as a "vehicle to gain publicity" for the Silver Ring Thing.

He said: "We have always respected Lydia's right to hold and express
her views. Our success is tinged with regret that proceedings have needed
to progress to this level."

Last year, Muslim Shabina Begum, 15, fought to wear a jilbab - a long
loose gown - in class, and earlier this year a 12-year-old who cannot be
named battled a Buckinghamshire girls' school for the right to wear a full-face
veil. Both were granted legal aid, and both lost their cases.

John Dunford, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
"I hope that today's judgment will send a strong signal to parents and
pupils that schools have every right to set a uniform and that pupils should
abide by it."

'Purity' ring case in
High Court

BBC News - Friday, 22 June 2007

A 16-year-old girl has gone to the High Court to accuse her school
of discriminating against Christians by banning the wearing of "purity
rings".

He said a question the judge would have to answer was: "What are the
religious rights of schoolchildren in the school context?"

'Sexually pure'

Originating in America, SRT promotes abstinence among young people.

Our correspondent said it was now spreading to the UK as part of a wider
protest by traditionalist Christians against what they see as the secularisation
of society.

The rings are inscribed with a reference to the biblical verse I
Thessalonians 4:3-4, which translates as: "God wants you to be holy,
so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness
and honour."

In the Bible it says you should remain sexually pure and I think this is a way I want to express my faithLydia Playfoot

Miss Playfoot's school said her ring broke uniform rules and ordered
her to remove it.

When she refused, she was taken out of lessons and made to study on
her own.

She told BBC Breakfast: "In the Bible it says you should remain sexually
pure and I think this is a way I want to express my faith."

Miss Playfoot is seeking a judicial review under Article Nine of the
Human Rights Act which guarantees freedom of religious expression.

She says that should protect her right to wear the ring.

In a written statement to Deputy Judge Michael Supperstone QC, Miss
Playfoot said young girls faced a "moral and ethical crisis" and that other
teenage girls at her school had become pregnant.

She said other pupils regularly broke the uniform code with nose rings,
tongue studs, badges and dyed hair.

The only reason for banning the rings was because the school refused
to "give respect to aspects of the Christian faith they are not familiar
with", Miss Playfoot said.

"The real reason for the extreme hostility to the wearing of the SRT
purity ring is the dislike of the message of sexual restraint which is
counter cultural and contrary to societal and governmental policy," she
added.

But headteacher Leon Nettley, said the school was applying a basic uniform
policy, which "has the overwhelming support of pupils and parents".

He said her ring was "not a Christian symbol, and is not required to
be worn by any branch within Christianity", adding that Lydia was free
to display her faith in other ways.

Uniform code

Lawyers for the school will insist that it is not operating a discriminatory
policy because allowances made for Sikhs and Muslims only occur for items
integral to their religious beliefs.

It argues that a Christian pupil would be allowed to wear a crucifix.

In freely choosing the school, lawyers will also say that Miss Playfoot
and her parents voluntarily accepted to adhere to the uniform code.

Miss Playfoot's first application to the High Court was turned down
last year, but judges agreed to hear it after she appealed.

Miss Playfoot completed her GCSEs last week and has now left the school.

But her father Phil, who is a pastor, said she wanted to pursue the
case because of its wider significance for all Christians.

Mr Playfoot and his wife Heather are part of the volunteer team which
runs the UK branch of the Silver Ring Thing from their church in
Horsham.

The organisers of the movement say as many as 25,000 young people have
joined so far in the UK and that numbers are growing.

Miss Playfoot has received messages of support from politicians, including
former Conservative party chairman Lord Tebbit and Tory MP Ann Widdecombe.

She also has the backing of the Lawyers Christian Fellowship (LCF) which
represents 2,000 Christian lawyers across the UK.

The case is being funded through individual donations gathered through
the LCF's sister group Christian Concern for our Nation.

Girl takes school to court over
right to wear 'purity' ring

Alexandra Topping - Saturday June 23, 2007 -

A Christian teenager accused her school yesterday of religious discrimination
for banning her from wearing a "purity" ring. Lydia Playfoot, 16, told
the high court that preventing her from wearing the ring, which symbolises
chastity before marriage, was a breach of her human rights.

Miss Playfoot is one of several students at the Millais School in Horsham,
West Sussex, who wear a silver ring as a symbol of their belief in sexual
abstinence. Her family is central to the UK branch of the Silver Ring
Thing movement, which preaches against sex before marriage.

The school, which allows Muslim and Sikh students to wear headscarves
and religious bracelets, argued that the ring was not an integral part
of the Christian faith and broke its uniform policy.

Miss Playfoot, in a statement put before deputy judge Michael Supperstone
QC, said: "The school does not afford equal rights to Christians; that
is the message given." She said young girls were facing a "moral and ethical
crisis" in the school and sexual problems were "not uncommon".

She added that the uniform policy was only "loosely adhered to", with
students being allowed to wear nose rings, earrings, tongue studs and badges
and to have dyed hair.

Human rights barrister Paul Diamond, who also represented Nadia Eweida
in her case against British Airways over her right to wear a cross to work,
said the school's action was an unlawful interference. He argued that secular
school authorities had no right to "rule on the correct manifestation of
religious beliefs" and they could not "rule on religious truth".

In response to Miss Playfoot's statement, Leon Nettley, headteacher
at Millais school, said: "If we allow one set of pupils to wear rings symbolising
one particular message, when that item of jewellery is not required by
their religion, then doubtless other pupils will then demand to be able
to wear jewellery symbolising other messages. Teenagers are worse than
lawyers for wanting to haggle over definitions. They will always try to
push the boundaries. "

He said Miss Playfoot had been encouraged to voice her opinion in class
and was free to display her faith in other ways.

Jonathan Auburn, appearing for the school governors, argued that in
choosing the school over other specifically Christian institutions Miss
Playfoot and her parents had accepted the uniform restrictions and there
had been no unlawful interference with her religious rights.

Before yesterday's court case Miss Playfoot said the ring was a vital
part of her beliefs. "It says that I am not going to have sex before I'm
married and I'm going to stay sexually pure until I'm married," she told
the BBC. "In the Bible it says you should remain sexually pure and I think
this is a way I want to express my faith."

Her father Phil Playfoot, a pastor at King's Church in Horsham, and
his wife are part of the team which run the UK branch of the Silver
Ring Thing from their church; his wife is the secretary of the company.
He insisted that his daughter was pursuing the legal action on her own
initiative.

Mr Nettley said the court case had been "extremely disruptive" for his
school and was draining money from its budget. The headteacher added: "I
do wonder whether this action is brought more for the purpose of generating
publicity for the Silver Ring Thing movement in the UK than for
any practical outcome for Lydia, who leaves my school this month in any
event."

The case continues.

We face a moral crisis,
says chastity ring girl

By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent -

A teenage girl took her school to the High Court yesterday claiming
it had discriminated against her Christian faith by banning her from wearing
a "purity ring".

Lydia Playfoot, 16, told the court in London that she had been unlawfully
prevented from wearing the silver ring, which symbolised her belief in
chastity before marriage.

She warned that other girls are facing "an ethical and moral crisis"
because of a lack of guidance.

Miss Playfoot was challenging the decision by Millais School in Horsham,
West Sussex, to ban her and a number others from wearing the rings because
the jewellery was not allowed under the uniform code.

She argued that the school let Muslim and Sikh pupils wear headscarfs
and religious bracelets. Miss Playfoot claimed the school did not afford
equal rights to Christians.

In a written statement, she said: "Many teachers are aware of the ethical
and moral crisis among young people who are not given any direction. Sexual
problems among the girls are not uncommon."

Miss Playfoot said that since she had been at the school a number of
pupils had become pregnant.

She added: "Students have been allowed to wear nose rings, ear rings,
tongue studs, badges and have dyed hair."

She claimed that the uniform policy was not consistently enforced.

But Leon Nettley, the headmaster, denied there had been any discrimination,
saying that the purity ring was not a Christian symbol, and not required
to be worn.

In his statement, he said that a Muslim girl had been permitted to wear
a headscarf "as it was understood this was considered to be a requirement
of her faith". Two Sikh girls had been allowed to wear a Kara bangle on
a similar basis.

The judicial review, backed by the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship, is
seen by many Christians as an important test of their religious rights
in an increasingly secular society.

Paul Diamond, appearing for Miss Playfoot, argued that the school governors
were violating her right to "freedom of thought, conscience and religion"
under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Jonathan Auburn, appearing for the school governors, argued there had
been no interference with Miss Playfoot's fundamental religious rights
as wearing the purity ring did not involve "a manifestation" of her Christian
belief. Even if there was interference with her rights, it was "justified
and proportionate", given the legitimate aim of the uniform policy - "the
promotion of allegiance, discipline, cohesion and equality within the school",
he said.

The purity rings originate from the Silver Ring Thing movement,
which started in the United States. A judgement is expected in four to
six weeks.